Green Space: Rain gauges can save you money and work

If you have a garden or lawn, you need to know how much rain has fallen. This can save you a money on your water bill, and you’ll know exactly when you need to water and how much.

Jim Hillibish

I heard the other day that the airport got a trace of rain. So who lives at the airport.

At the same time, we had a cloudburst in my neighborhood. This points to an embarrassing problem. Weather bureau stats on rain are pretty useless. The same storm will dump different amounts as it rolls past.

Many of our summer storms are very local, meaning we could get rain and a mile or so away the sun is shining.

So who cares about the rain? If you have a garden or lawn, you need to know how much rain has fallen. This can save you a money on your water bill, and you’ll know exactly when you need to water and how much.

We need an inch of rain a week to keep plants green and healthy. If Ma Nature doesn’t provide it, we’ll have to make up for it ourselves with the sprinkling can or hose.

Water bills are getting higher, so measuring irrigation makes sense. In some cities, your water bill determines your sewer bill. The bureaucrats rationalize that what goes in must come out. Sprinkling your garden then sends your sewer bill up.

Measuring the rain in your backyard vastly improves accuracy. All it takes is a simple device properly installed.

Although rain gauges now come with lasers and digital output, the most accurate ones are the least expensive. These are called standard rain gauges. They consist of a tube with a funnel on top and a measurement scale in inches and millimeters clearly printed on the side.

You can find good ones for way less than $10, quickly recoverable in city water savings.

Situating the gauge is critical to its accuracy. The perfect location is on a fence post that is not under a tree or near a roof. Both drip excess water and will skew your measurement.

The gauge must be level. Handy ones have a cap on the bottom for easy cleaning. That is important as the tube will grow green stuff over time.

Some of the latest gauges do double duty as a rain and sprinkler device. A sprinkler gauge is mounted on a spike for easy movement. The same rules apply for accurate measurements.

Taylor makes a glass gauge with an adjustable aluminum holder for a post and a spike for sprinkling at $4.29. The Timex plastic gauge has all that and a magnified dial visible at a distance, $2.99. Timex also bundles separate rain and sprinkler gauges at $4.99.

Starting around $20, you can automate the chore. The P3 gauge has a digital readout and counts rain by the hour, day, week and month. This allows it to be self-emptying. For less than $40, you can add wireless readout and never have to visit the gauge. Some models include temperature.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.